BUENA VISTA, Va. – The Marymount (Va.) University men's lacrosse team went on the road to take on Southern Virginia University in both team's Capital Athletic Conference season opener and came away with a 14-12 victory, behind freshman Bryan Mcmanus' seven goals and three assists. 

Only the first and last minute of the opening quarter saw goals, as SVU's Casey Rich opened up the scoring for the Knights 53 seconds into the contest. Mcmanus tallied his first of the day with 43 seconds left in the quarter to start off a remarkable CAC debut for the freshman.

The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair as the teams traded blows with neither team gaining a multiple-goal lead despite seven goals being scored.

McManus buried two in the quarter, coming from feeds by sophomore Nathan Beard and freshman Dylan Handel. Mcmanus also picked up an assist in the quarter on a historic goal for senior Matt Justice. Justice's marker put him at 100 points for in his collegiate career. Sophomore Brent Sulhoff also connected on a junior Shoshone Smith pass to round out the scoring in the quarter.

At halftime, the Saints had 15 shots to the Knights' 18, while the blue and white forced 11 turnovers by SVU.

Scoring in the second half opened up with Mcmanus tallying a man-down goal with 12:38 remaining in the third quarter and following it up with an even-strength goal 18 seconds later to bring his goal total on the day to five.

Freshman Matthew Ebert added a man-up goal from a Sulhoff dish to bring the Saints' second-half start to a third-straight goal.

Southern Virginia's Zach Danneman put an end to the Saints' hot start to the half and teammate Anthony Good added another to cut their deficit to two, 8-6, heading into what would be a 12-goal fourth quarter.

Southern Virginia got on the board first in the final stanza, but senior Maxwell Johnson and Ebert answered quickly to bring the lead to three.

After the Knights tacked one on with 6:26 left, Marymount got three-in-a-row from Mcmanus, Beard and Justice to give the Saints the largest lead of the game, five, with just 3:14 left.

Eight seconds after Justice's goal, Southern Virginia put another in followed by three more Knights goals in a minute-and-a-half span to bring the game to 13-12 with 1:35 left.

The Saints lost the ensuing faceoff and Southern Virginia got a shot on net that senior Mike Kempel smothered and the Saints were able to clear the ball into Knights' territory.

With two seconds left in the game, Mcmanus added one last marker to bring the final score to 14-12 and his point total on the day to 10, with seven goals and three assists. Mcmanus put in his seven goals on just nine shots for a .777 shooting percentage.

Kempel earned the win for the Saints, stopping 14 of the 26 shots Southern Virginia put his way. Logan Lund got the loss for the Knights, stopping six shots.

The men will head home for their season opener on Wednesday, February 24, as they take on Gwynedd-Mercy College in a non-conference tilt at Long Bridge Park. First faceoff is set for 5 p.m.